Chapter 14 #2
River forced her feet to move. Or at least, that’s what she tried to do.
In reality, she took a step towards the couch. Stopped. Opened and closed her mouth, trying to force words past her closed throat.
It took several tries before she was able to make a sound. Even more before she could form a sentence.
“Find what out about Chavin?” River’s hoarse whisper seemed to boom around the room.
A sharp inhale came from in front of her. Ryker stiffened, his fingers curling around the couch cushion. Shadows slipped from Brynleigh, darkening the room.
For a moment, the entire world slid to a standstill. Even Marlowe, who was asleep on the floor, didn’t seem to breathe.
Dread swirled in the air and in River’s heart.
Something was going on. She was sure of it.
River thought she knew everything that had happened on the night of the Incident. She thought she understood the depths of her curse. She thought she knew all the ways she’d ruined people’s lives.
A few minutes ago, River would’ve said she’d already broken in all the ways a person could break. But now? The apprehension worming its way into her heart told her she was very, very wrong.
“What do you know?” River asked when no one said anything. “Ryker?”
Her brother inhaled deeply, then he exhaled. The low sound was almost… mournful. He rose to his feet and somberly contemplated her. His mouth was pinched in a firm line that set off alarm bells in River’s mind.
A moment later, Brynleigh joined him, looking downcast and wringing her hands together.
The vampire looked… nervous? Uneasy, maybe?
River had never seen her sister-in-law in such a state. Her heart contorted even further. Shivers ran down River’s spine, and she wrung her hands.
“Please,” she whispered, her voice echoing in the too-silent room. She wasn’t sure what she was asking for, wasn’t even sure why it felt like a world-changing request.
Maybe, if River had known what she was asking for, she would’ve left. Gathered her blanket and phone and went back upstairs. She could’ve pulled the covers over her head and gone back to sleep, blissfully ignorant.
That might’ve been better than what came next.
But like most things in River’s life, she was destined to take the most painful route available. This was no different.
Ryker and Brynleigh shared a long look, communicating in that silent way that only couples who had been together for years were able to achieve. Sorrow crossed Ryker’s face, and dread wove its way deeper into River’s heart.
“Come and sit,” Ryker said, moving away from his wife. “This might be better if—”
“No,” River whispered. Then, more loudly, she repeated, “No.”
She didn’t want to sit like she was back in her therapist’s office and being told to use mantras to keep her magic under control. She didn’t want to wait or be managed. She just wanted the truth.
“I really think you should sit down for this,” Ryker tried again.
“I don’t want to.” River looked over to Brynleigh. The vampire appeared to be on the brink of tears. “Please, Bryn. We’ve always had a connection, right? Tell me what’s going on.”
Her sister-in-law nodded slowly. Almost painfully. Taking Ryker’s hand, she laced their fingers together. She was clinging to him, as if she needed him to ground her.
River’s stomach churned.
“You’re right,” Brynleigh said. “You deserve to know what’s going on.”
Ryker made a sound in the back of his throat, but he didn’t say anything.
“Chavin is… was…” The vampire inhaled deeply and laid her hands flat on her thighs. “Before I married your brother, I came from there.”
River stared at her sister-in-law.
Blinked several times, trying to force her brain to make sense of what she was hearing.
It didn’t seem to be working.
“I don’t… Chavin no longer exists.”
Because of River. Most of the town’s buildings had been completely destroyed by her storm, and the flooded homes that had survived were uninhabitable. Even if Chavin had been salvageable, no one wanted to live in the same place where hundreds had met their deaths in a “fluke” storm.
Chavin was a ghost town, haunted by the souls that had passed on too soon. Cursed, just like River.
“I know,” Brynleigh said sadly.
“Then what are you saying?” River asked.
“I was there, the night of the storm.”
A knife shoved directly into River’s heart would’ve hurt less. As it was, her legs shook, and black spots danced across her vision.
Brynleigh had been in Chavin.
What?
How?
“When you… Were you a vampire?” River asked when her mouth could form words again.
A flash of pain crossed Brynleigh’s face. It was gone as quickly as it had appeared, but River knew she’d seen it.
“No. I was with my family when the storm hit, and they…” Brynleigh shuddered, wrapping her free arm around herself. “They didn’t make it.”
They were dead because River killed them.
Brynleigh didn’t say that last part, but that didn’t make it any less true. Any less horrible.
Brynleigh was an orphan. Her family was gone because of River.
The screams that had haunted River for years had never been so loud, never felt so personal.
River could barely breathe. Barely think. Barely do anything at all. It took three tries to force her mouth to form words, but she had to know. “And you…”
“That was the night I was Made,” Brynleigh said softly. Mournfully.
Which could only happen if someone was on the brink of death.
Which meant…
It meant…
That she had…
She was the reason…
River’s lungs seized. The ground trembled beneath her. Except… not the ground. Her legs were shaking.
River stumbled. She clung to the side of a side table and stared at her sister-in-law.
“You were there when Chavin flooded? You were…”
Dying.
The unspoken word swirled around them, as loud as a clap of thunder.
Brynleigh dipped her head. The movement was almost imperceptible, but River would never forget it.
“Oh, gods.” River’s voice was hoarse, echoing the pain in her heart. Her mind. Her soul. “I… You were Made… because of me?”
There was no answer this time, but River didn’t need one. She already knew the truth.
And this was…
It was…
Awful.
It had been one thing to know that River had brought death upon a whole village. The people she’d killed had been nameless and faceless. She’d grieved for them, knowing that she would forever bear the weight of what she’d done, the deaths she’d brought about, on her soul.
But this…
She knew Brynleigh. Loved her as a sister.
And she’d basically killed her.
River crashed to the ground, her vision darkening as echoes of the past swept over her.
Screams. Waves. Shouts of terror.
Agony.
The farmhouse faded away. All River could see, all she could hear, was that night.
That disastrous, horrendous night.
River was standing outside in the darkness, goose bumps peppering her flesh as magic swept through her. Unstoppable, it overpowered her.
For years, she’d kept it inside. Now it was all crashing out. A terrifying, uncontrollable wave.
It shattered every barrier she’d erected to keep it in place. Smashed them as if they’d never existed.
Her magic was a deadly force as it swept out of her.
River cried out and tried to reel it in, but nothing was working. Water poured from the sky, a deluge that soaked everything in seconds. Her clothes were plastered to her body, a second skin.
River moaned, attempting to wrestle the storm back under control, but the more she tried to contain it, the harder it raged. Thunder screamed. Lightning lit up the sky, illuminating the rain cascading from the heavens. The wind roared in her ears.
The storm wasn’t stopping, no matter what she did.
Sobbing, River reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone. It was drenched in seconds, and the battery was at 3 percent. The device, though waterproof, was slippery. It took several tries for her to navigate to her contacts, and her fingers trembled as she punched in a quick message.
River
911
She pressed send moments before the screen flickered, then went black. Did the message get out on time? She didn’t know.
More magic poured out of her. Faster. Deadlier.
Soon, screams surrounded River. Cries of horror. Panic.
Her heart hammered. Tears streamed down her face, and sobs wracked her body. Never-ending rain fell from the skies.
Every minute felt like an hour as River tried to reel in her magic. But no matter how hard she tried, it wasn’t working. She didn’t know how; no one had ever taught her what to do.
She was too young to be wielding so much power. Only fifteen. How was she supposed to know how to handle a situation like this?
Death was here, grinning as River sobbed, escorting people into its watery embrace. By the time Ryker arrived, it was too late. She’d ushered hundreds of souls into the afterlife, and now—
Someone was shouting River’s name. There was a frantic edge to their voice, but it sounded like they were underwater, far away from her.
The screams were deafening, and they weren’t stopping. There had been so much death that day. Too much.
A hand grasped River’s shoulder. Shook her hard. Her teeth clattered.
“It’s over, River. The storm is over.”
Those were the same words Ryker had spoken the night of the Incident. The last ones she remembered hearing before she collapsed in his arms.
Ryker repeated the words over and over, until River forced herself to look at him again. She was still on the floor, and Ryker’s arms were wrapped around her. He was holding her close, brushing her hair back from her forehead.
Brynleigh was crouched at his side, and there was so much sorrow reflected in her gaze that River’s heart wrenched.
Brynleigh, who had lived in Chavin.
Brynleigh, who had been there the night of River’s storm.
Brynleigh, who had had a family until River stole them from her. Killed them, like she had so many others.
Brynleigh, who was a vampire because of River.
Brynleigh… who was her brother’s wife.
Which meant…
Wait.
River’s breath sawed as she yanked herself out of her brother’s hug. She scrambled backwards on all fours until she hit the island. Pain reverberated through her spine, but she ignored it, drawing her knees up to her chest. She hugged them and looked at Ryker.
Really looked at him.
Her brother was watching her warily. Sorrow was etched into the lines of his face, along with grief and… regret.
“You knew?” River rasped.
His breath hitched, but he didn’t say anything. Didn’t deny it. Couldn’t, since he was a fae.
“You knew,” she repeated. “For how long?”
How long had Ryker known that his sister had made his wife an orphan? How long had he known that she was the reason Brynleigh was a vampire? How long had he been keeping this from her?
Ryker sucked in a sharp breath, exchanging a worried look with his wife.
“Tell me,” River said firmly.
The manacles on her wrists chaffed, but she didn’t resent their presence. If anything, she welcomed them and the vastness inside her. The lack of pulsing, pounding magic in her veins was the only thing keeping River sane right now.
Because this…
This was a betrayal River had never seen coming.
She never thought Ryker would hide anything from her. Never thought he would lie to her. And fae, while physically incapable of lying, were perfectly able to omit things when they spoke. She never thought Ryker would do that, though. Certainly not about something like this.
“I’ve known for a long time,” Ryker admitted. He glanced at Brynleigh, and something dark passed between them. “Everything came to light soon after the Choosing.”
Years.
He had known for fucking years.
“When were you going to tell me?” she croaked.
Ryker scrubbed his hand over his face. “I didn’t… You’ve already suffered so much. You beat yourself up endlessly about the Incident. I didn’t want to add to your pain.”
River stood, her legs trembling. She moved back, her cheeks growing damp. How long had she been crying?
“Your plan was to lie to me for the rest of our lives? You were going to keep this from me forever?”
Panic was leaking into her words, but she couldn’t stop it.
Ryker’s mouth opened. Closed. Opened again. Then shut.
“How could you do this?” River asked. Sobbed, really. “I trusted you, and you kept this from me.”
He’d betrayed her.
There was a part of River’s mind that thought that maybe her frustrations were a little misplaced. Yes, this was Brynleigh’s secret, not Ryker’s, to tell, but it didn’t feel that way to River. He was her brother, and they’d always been open with each other. Or so she’d thought.
Now, she wasn’t so sure.
Grabbing the blanket and her phone from where she’d dropped them, River turned and ran out the front door. Ryker shouted at her, but she called back for him to leave her alone. She needed time.
River swiped her thumb across the screen, barely able to see past the veil of tears pouring down her cheeks.
She pressed the only name she wanted to talk to right now and brought the phone to her ear. It rang once.
“Nik?” River’s voice was as broken as she felt inside. “I need you.”